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Report for 20 May 2021 Meeting
Report for 20 May 2021 Meeting
Cheese trees are so called because they have a fruit that resembles a round of Dutch cheese, but much smaller. It’s a common tree on our site, and usually looks pretty ragged. However, the fact that cheese trees look so moth-eaten, means that they must be feeding our native fauna. Actually, so many species rely on cheese trees that a case could be made for them being the most valuable trees we have. The fruits alone are food for Lewin’s honeyeaters, various pigeons, king parrots, and probably more. In turn, these birds spread cheese tree seeds far and wide in their droppings. The bit of red flesh that surrounds each seed presumably has some food value, although I don’t think it tastes of much. The seeds resist bird digestion and pass right through and get dispersed with a blob of fertilising poop. Biologists refer to this as mutualism - the cheese trees need the birds as much as the birds need the cheese trees.
Cheese trees are so called because they have a fruit that resembles a round of Dutch cheese, but much smaller. It’s a common tree on our site, and usually looks pretty ragged. However, the fact that cheese trees look so moth-eaten, means that they must be feeding our native fauna. Actually, so many species rely on cheese trees that a case could be made for them being the most valuable trees we have. The fruits alone are food for Lewin’s honeyeaters, various pigeons, king parrots, and probably more. In turn, these birds spread cheese tree seeds far and wide in their droppings. The bit of red flesh that surrounds each seed presumably has some food value, although I don’t think it tastes of much. The seeds resist bird digestion and pass right through and get dispersed with a blob of fertilising poop. Biologists refer to this as mutualism - the cheese trees need the birds as much as the birds need the cheese trees.
Lots of insects too eat bits of cheese trees, especially the leaves. That accounts for their ragged look. And there’s another insect that every cheese tree is host to. It’s a maggot that eats the seeds as they develop in the fruit. Cheese trees have to live with a maggot that eats their developing babies! This is not bad for cheese trees as its sounds and, without these little maggots, cheese trees would very likely die out. That’s because the mother of the maggots is a tiny moth, and that moth is absolutely necessary to pollinate the cheese tree flowers. The moth is programmed genetically to perform that service, and so ensures that seeds develop. After doing that service, it lays its eggs. The eggs hatch into grubs, and the grubs eat the seeds. But the grubs are also programmed genetically - they always leave some of the seeds uneaten. In this way, seeds are left to be spread by birds and make more cheese trees. Again, the behaviour benefits both moth and tree, obligate pollination mutualism.
Lots of insects too eat bits of cheese trees, especially the leaves. That accounts for their ragged look. And there’s another insect that every cheese tree is host to. It’s a maggot that eats the seeds as they develop in the fruit. Cheese trees have to live with a maggot that eats their developing babies! This is not bad for cheese trees as its sounds and, without these little maggots, cheese trees would very likely die out. That’s because the mother of the maggots is a tiny moth, and that moth is absolutely necessary to pollinate the cheese tree flowers. The moth is programmed genetically to perform that service, and so ensures that seeds develop. After doing that service, it lays its eggs. The eggs hatch into grubs, and the grubs eat the seeds. But the grubs are also programmed genetically - they always leave some of the seeds uneaten. In this way, seeds are left to be spread by birds and make more cheese trees. Again, the behaviour benefits both moth and tree, obligate pollination mutualism.
A similar relationship has evolved independently, far away in North America. It’s a completely different tree, a yucca, and an unrelated moth. The moth also carefully pollinates the yucca flower. It lays its eggs in the flower, the grubs eat the developing seeds, but always leave some to make future yuccas. Several equally weird pollination mutualisms between plants and insects have been described. Probably many more are waiting to be discovered.
A similar relationship has evolved independently, far away in North America. It’s a completely different tree, a yucca, and an unrelated moth. The moth also carefully pollinates the yucca flower. It lays its eggs in the flower, the grubs eat the developing seeds, but always leave some to make future yuccas. Several equally weird pollination mutualisms between plants and insects have been described. Probably many more are waiting to be discovered.
Diary 12 Feb New enclosure “Cedars” made by contractor. 22 Feb RMS contacted re site road repair. 24 Feb Trad with fungus control arrived from CSIRO. 25 Feb Sites of trad fungus sent to CSIRO. 4 Mar Uni student Jaqui Bennett looking foe expriment site. 12 Mar road repairs. Mar 20 - 21 Major flood with whole site under several metres of water. 25 Mar Major cleanup - retrieval of plants washed from nursery, water container, repair of fencing. 26 - 29 Mar cleanup continues. 1 April Env Trust message asking whether final report delayed by flood - we may have to. 15 Apr Michael Smith (CCC) collecting seed for Council Nursery. 16 Apr Flood damage repairs. 22 Apr White beech seeds collected for Council Nursery. 4 May Seed collecting group. 6 May photo of smut-infected trad next to healthy Pollia sent to CSIRO and Margaret Waugh. 7 May Penny Pinkess(CCC) ordered 1000 hardwood stakes and 700 net guards for us. 10 May Pollia sample with fungus posted to Isabel Zeil-Rolfe (CSIRO). 13 May Cassie Baker (Property Officer, CCC) visited - financial position of Council prevents aquisition of our site from RMS. 14 May Feral deer found on site. Reported to Greater Sydney LLS and Council. 18 May Contractor Damien Moey starts 100 h work on M. biconvexa for David Bain (Save our Species). 20 May Landcare meeting.
Diary 12 Feb New enclosure “Cedars” made by contractor. 22 Feb RMS contacted re site road repair. 24 Feb Trad with fungus control arrived from CSIRO. 25 Feb Sites of trad fungus sent to CSIRO. 4 Mar Uni student Jaqui Bennett looking foe expriment site. 12 Mar road repairs. Mar 20 - 21 Major flood with whole site under several metres of water. 25 Mar Major cleanup - retrieval of plants washed from nursery, water container, repair of fencing. 26 - 29 Mar cleanup continues. 1 April Env Trust message asking whether final report delayed by flood - we may have to. 15 Apr Michael Smith (CCC) collecting seed for Council Nursery. 16 Apr Flood damage repairs. 22 Apr White beech seeds collected for Council Nursery. 4 May Seed collecting group. 6 May photo of smut-infected trad next to healthy Pollia sent to CSIRO and Margaret Waugh. 7 May Penny Pinkess(CCC) ordered 1000 hardwood stakes and 700 net guards for us. 10 May Pollia sample with fungus posted to Isabel Zeil-Rolfe (CSIRO). 13 May Cassie Baker (Property Officer, CCC) visited - financial position of Council prevents aquisition of our site from RMS. 14 May Feral deer found on site. Reported to Greater Sydney LLS and Council. 18 May Contractor Damien Moey starts 100 h work on M. biconvexa for David Bain (Save our Species). 20 May Landcare meeting.
Report for 11 February 2021 Meeting
Report for 11 February 2021 Meeting
Wattles work hard underground. It’s worth digging up a wattle plant just to see where they do it. Look at those hundreds of little round nodules, each one the size of a grain of tapioca. These are the nitrogen-fixing nodules. They help make wattles to be successful pioneers in a regenerating forest.
Each nodule is a little factory, one that manufactures ammonia from nitrogen gas in the air. Together, they allow wattles to grow super fast, because they provide its nitrogen fertiliser. In the years following a bushfire, wattles are often the fastest-growing trees to regenerate.
While thunderstorms and bacteria help build up nitrogen fertiliser in soil, bushfire reverses the process and burns the fertiliser back to nitrogen gas in the air. Fires concentrate potassium and phosphorus in the ash that they leave, but nitrogen is left in short supply. This gives wattles a big advantage after fire, because they can make their own nitrogen fertiliser. They can turn the nitrogen in the air into ammonia, using the nodules on their roots. For the same reason, wattles are able to colonise infertile sites and make them suitable for other trees that follow after.
In the year 1909, a German chemist discovered how to imitate wattles and other legumes by making ammonia from the nitrogen in the air. That invention still helps to feed the world, and huge quantities of ammonia are now manufactured. Nearly half of the nitrogen in our own bodies has come through this process - it was first manufactured as ammonia, made into fertiliser, and the plants fed to us and other animals. There is a downside, however: the ammonia industry consumes a great deal of energy, it emits greenhouse gases, and ammonium nitrate is a powerful explosive. There have been twelve accidental explosions of ammonium nitrate around the world since 2000, culminating in the one that flattened Beirut.
In contrast, wattles are mostly good news. They work quietly underground, consuming only solar energy. Beautiful butterflies and birds depend on them for food. They never explode, and they absorb greenhouse gases rather than producing them. They are helped in this by some rather delicate bacteria that actually transform the nitrogen of the air into fertiliser. The little nodules provide homes for the bacteria, where they are fed and protected from too much harmful oxygen.
The wattle provides the bacteria with haemoglobin. In our blood, haemoglobin transfers oxygen, and it does something similar in the wattle root nodules. Wattle haemoglobin combines with oxygen just strongly enough to stop the bacteria being killed by too much oxygen, but still providing a steady supply of oxygen for respiration. It buffers the oxygen level so that it’s just right. Plant haemoglobin is in the news because there’s a proposal to colour vegan burgers red with it, as well as providing meaty flavour and iron.
Meanwhile, the nodules on wattle roots are one of the main reasons why they are such good pioneer trees. Right now, their leaves are absorbing carbon dioxide and solar energy. They are feeding the resulting sugar down to the thousands of little nodules, which are absorbing nitrogen from the air and making the wattle grow. When it dies, it will leave behind an enriched soil, all the better for the next generation of trees.
Diary 16 Nov Penny Pinkess (CCC) delivered hardwood stakes, nets, and loppers. 18 Nov Bangalow Bushland built/planted Transect Enclosure. 20 Nov Bangalow Bushland on site. 25 Nov Bangalow Bushland on site. 26 Nov Neighbour Shirley Goldthorpe visited. 3 Dec Mick Budden (LLS), Paul Marynissen and Penny Pinkess (CCC) visited re trad smut fungus. 10 Dec Landcare Christmas Lunch at Tall Timbers. 11 Dec Bangalow Bushland on site. 4 Jan First working bee of 2021. 15 Dec Bangalow Bushland on site. 28 Jan Working bee rained off. 3 Feb Bangalow Bushland on site. 11 Feb Landcare ordinary meeting.
Report for 12 November 2020 Meeting
Report for 12 November 2020 Meeting
This is what Ourimbah looked like when the rainforest of the valley flats was felled. It’s a sombre sight, looking at the destruction, but these floodplains had deep alluvial soil. They were prized for growing citrus orchards and grass for cattle, and for that the rainforest had to be cut and cleared. It’s said that strangler figs were the first to be felled. This helped, because their interlaced vines pulled down the surrounding trees. Then the dried out debris was burnt.
While most of the rainforest was destroyed, small patches were left, including several along Ourimbah Creek. Each remnant supports a few fruit-eating birds, and they are key workers for us. Our contribution is to extend the forest by planting a few hundred seedling trees. However, the birds bring in thousands more seedlings by feeding on mature trees and pooping out seeds. Certainly, we help the birds by increasing the diversity of trees and vines. They together provide fruits all through the year. It’s true that even privet feeds fruit-eating birds, but that’s a feast that’s followed by a long famine. Regent bower birds need fruits in every season of the year, and that can be provided by lilly pillys, brush cherries, white bollygum, lemon aspen and kangaroo apple, but not by a monoculture of privet.
Pooping birds don’t just disperse seeds. The white part of each dropping is composed of uric acid. It’s a pure chemical whose crystals sparkle in the sun, and it’s also a highly concentrated nitrogen fertiliser. Unlike fertiliser concentrates you can buy in a shop, there’s no danger of it burning leaves that it drops on. Uric acid doesn’t dissolve readily in water, and bacteria only gradually break it down to soluble things like ammonia and nitrate that plants can use. It’s a natural slow-release fertiliser, it’s spread through the forest by birds, and it’s a great stimulant for plants.
Rainforests characteristically have plants growing on trees - these are the epiphytes like elkhorn and birdsnest ferns. Tree bark provides very little fertiliser for these epiphytes and so their leaves are structured to catch any poop that falls from the sky. They catch rain and leaves as well, so that, gradually, each epiphyte accumulates its own patch of well-fertilised compost that helps it grow more luxuriantly.
Eventually, epiphytes in a rainforest accumulate enough composty spots, way up in the forest canopy, for strangler figs to germinate there. Seedling strangler figs can’t regenerate in dense shade, but they are remarkably well-adapted to perch as small plants in the compost provided by the epiphytes. Here, they get the light they need and, if they get enough rain, they send thin roots down the trunk of the tree they’re growing on. These, with luck, will reach fertile soil, and so enable the little fig to grow into a giant of the rainforest. The whole process is a hundred-or-soyear affair and we aren’t going to live that long. It doesn’t matter, for successive generations of birds will do it for us, pooping regularly while we rest in peace.
Diary. 17 September Landcare meeting on site. 21 Sep, tree fallen over access road. Visit by Stephanie Francis, Australian Plant Society. 28 Sep, Michael Smith and Penny Pinkess (Central Coast Council) visited. Two new members welcomed, Ayla Austin and Brian Dawson. 1 Oct, Penny Pinkess (CCC) delivered 200 Lomandra longifolia to help creekbank stabilisation. 8 Oct, Penny Pinkess (CCC) conducted Risk Assessment with group. 9 Oct, contractor Bangalow Bushland worked on enclosures. 14 Oct contractor Bangalow Bushland worked on enclosures. 15 Oct Christina and Betty (Wildlife Ark) visited to assess possum rewilding. 21 Oct, trad smut biological control material arrived from CSIRO; contractor Bangalow Bushland worked on enclosures. 26 Oct, working bee rained off after 3 h. 30 Oct, arborist contracted to remove fallen tree hazard. 5 Nov, working bee rained off after 2 h.
Report for 17 September 2020 Meeting
Report for 17 September 2020 Meeting
Biological control Weeds originate from overseas, and in their home country they are harmless natives. Our trad weed, Tradescantia fluminensis, comes from Brazil, along with moth vine and lantana. Biological control aims to replace herbicides with the natural enemies of weeds - that is, organisms that keep plants from being weeds in their country of origin.
Trad is a particularly serious weed in New Zealand forests, where vast carpets of it stop the regeneration of trees. The New Zealanders found a smut fungus in Brazil which would grow only on the leaves of trad and on no other plant. Eventually, they released the smut fungus as a biological control for trad in New Zealand. After that release, CSIRO in Australia worked for several more years on it. They also found that the fungus would grow only on trad and not on any other plant species. CSIRO then released the smut fungus in Victoria, to see whether it was an effective control there. Those tests have now been completed, and this year, it is being released in northern NSW. Here on the Central Coast, we are being allowed to try it out as well.
Results in Victoria were somewhat mixed. As with other smut fungi, drought stops it from spreading from plant to plant. Even when it is rainy, the spores are not long-lived, and healthy plants have to be really close to infected plants to catch the fungus. Infection weakens trad rather than killing it. This however is good, because it allows the smut fungus to persist rather than dying along with its host.
Lantana is another Brazilian pest for which biological control has been introduced. In this case, it’s in the form of three insects which only eat lantana. They munch through lantana, but tend to die out when there isn’t enough lantana left. This is one reason why biological controls need a bit more attention to detail than methods using herbicides.
The advantage of biological control is that it is specific in targeting a single organism. Pesticides, such as the glyphosate in Roundup, kill everything they hit. However, developing the smut fungus as a biological control method has been extremely expensive. It has taken several years of research in Brazil, in New Zealand and in Australia in order to be certain that this smut fungus doesn’t affect any native organism. Nearly a hundred years ago, Queensland cane growers introduced cane toads without expensive tests. That introduction had disastrous results.
The trad smut has been exhaustively studied. Unlike the cane toad, it only eats trad and nothing else. This is particularly important on our site, because four native species in the same family as trad (family Commelinaceae) grow here. One of them, Aneilema acuminatum has been driven almost to local extinction here because it can’t compete with the thick mats of trad that overwhelm it. With luck, the trad smut fungus will allow this native plant to compete more effectively.
Biological controls can’t eradicate their target weeds. However, we can hope that by weakening trad, this smut fungus will offset the need to use chemical sprays, at least to some extent. We know that the trad problem reduces as the forest canopy thickens. Smut-weakened trad should help this by allowing better forest regeneration.
Diary. 13 July CSIRO invite participants in biological control of trad with smut fungus. 16 July Penny Pinkess & Tim Cain (CCC) visit to assess possibility of fox control. 6 August Serious accident at Rest Area involving overturned truck and diesel leakage. 20 August Penny Pinkess (CCC) brought stakes. 26 August Bangalow Bushland started work on Year 3 funding. 2 September Bangalow Bushland working today. 3 September Penny Pinkess made site strategy list of weeds. 6 September 2 brushtail possums released today. 8 September Bangalow Bushland today. 10 September Application for smut fungus made. 14 September 2 ringtail possums released today. 17 September Landcare meeting.
Report for 9 July 2020 Meeting
Report for 9 July 2020 Meeting
Big question There are more than 200 different native plant species on our site. How do they all live together without one kind dominating? Botanists have been puzzling over this question for years.
It's a particularly interesting question for us, because of our problem with privet. Privet can take over abandoned land. Its seedlings make a thick carpet like that in the top photograph. Only if you weed it out will that red ash (bottom) be revealed and regenerate.
Privet is well-adapted to thrive on the moist, fertile soils of the floodplain, so it's not surprising that it takes over. But, as result of our efforts, how is it that some 200 different native plants can then grow together without one of them taking over like privet does?
At least part of the answer has to do with insects. Insects are critical for biodiversity on our site, and perhaps we should try to love them a bit more. We’re rightly proud of the bigger animals - after all, we’ve got more than 170 feathered, furry, scaly and froggy species. But, noone knows how many kinds of insects that we have. Most likely it’s several thousand.
Our insects are important, because they solve the problem of getting our 200 native plant species to live together in harmony. To illustrate the point, take the attempts that foresters have made to grow red cedar, Toona ciliata in dense plantations. Cedar is fast-growing and after about fifty or so years it can provide a beautiful timber that fetches a high price. But plantations of cedar have repeatedly failed in Australia. That’s because they are a paradise for native insects who eat, bore and generally ruin the trees. It’s different in Hawaii. Red cedar grows like a weed there, because the local insects won’t eat it. And, across the world in China, privet is a harmless native, a rainforest tree. It isn’t a weed there, because something of the order of 100 native insects have been shown to rely on it for food.
Big answer All biodiversity on our site is important, not least in helping to attract visitors intent on catching a glimpse of a regent bower bird or an azure kingfisher. Of the animals, insects are by far the most numerous in species. They are the biggest secret we have, waiting to be discovered. And collectively, they ensure that none of our native trees turns into a big bully weed like privet.
Diary 12 Mar visit by wildlife rescuers Betty, June and Scie with Winnie, a rescued swamp wallaby. TAFE student Matthew Wilkins joined us for practical work that supplements his distance-learning course in Land Resource Management. 23 Mar Working bees put on hold (council’s covid-19 restrictions). 31 Mar Bangalow Bushland Management re-started contracted work using distancing and sterilisation of implements with 70% ethanol. Penny Pinkess (CCC) ordered 1,000 long tomato stakes. 17 Apr Wombat recorded by night camera returning to its hole after the flood. 19 May Year 2 grant report for review by members and stakeholders. Landcare working bees re-started with appropriate safeguards.25 May Penny Pinkess (CCC) delivered tomato stakes and sanitiser. 28 May Contractor Damien working on Melaleuca biconvexa grant from David Bain. Our first wheelchair visitor, Zac visiting. 11 June Roger Johnson and Bob Pickett (Avoca) visited. 15 June Jammed sliprail lock fixed (CCC). RMS Annual Licence to Mellissa Jones. 6 Jul New member Inka Barthram joined. Cassie Baker (CCC) visited to inform of Council interest in acquiring RMS Private land. 8 July Central Coast Birders (20) on site.
YSite Strategy for RMS Private Land 2019 onwards
Location This RMS-owned land site is enclosed by the white line on the map shown above. It is a 1-km length of floodplain land, bordered to the north by Council land along Ourimbah Creek, and to the south by two important corridors, RMS M1 Shoulder, within the yellow line. Council has water-harvesting infrastructure on the RMS Private land.
Endangered ecosystems Much of the site is occupied by Lowland Rainforest, which has been defined as endangered by the NSW Dept. of the Environment here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/LowlandRainforestEndCom.htm. While the richer and better-drained soils of the site support rainforest, there is a substantial section of poorer soils with depressions that hold water for varying times after heavy rain. This is occupied by Swamp Sclerophyll Forest, also listed as endangered here: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/SwampSchlerophyllEndSpListing.htm
Rainforest species of the Sydney Basin present on this site include Acacia maidenii, Acmena smithii, Adiantum formosum, Alectryon subcinereus, Alphitonia excelsa, Alpinia caerulea, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Asplenium australasicum, Backhousia myrtifolia, Brachychiton acerifolius, Breynia oblongifolia, Caldcluvia paniculosa, Cassine australe, Cayratia clematidea, Ceratopetalum apetalum, Choricarpia leptopetala, Cissus hypoglauca, Claoxylon australe, Clerodendrum tomentosum, Cordyline stricta, Diospyros pentamera, Diploglottis australis, Doodia aspera, Doodia caudata, Doryphora sassafras, Ehretia acuminata, Elaeocarpus reticulata, Endiandra discolor, Ficus obliqua, Flagellaria indica, Guoia semiglauca, Livistona australis, Malaisia scandens, Marsdenia rostrata, Melia azederach, Melicope micrococca, Morinda jasminoides Neolitsea dealbata Notelaea longifolia, Omalanthus populifolius, Pandorea pandorana, Parsonsia straminea, Passiflora herbertiana, Pellaea falcata, Peperomia tetraphylla, Platycerium bifurcatum, Podocarpus elatus, Pollia crispata, Polyscias elegans, Pouteria australe, Pteris umbrosa, Pyrrosia rupestris, Rapanea howittiana, Rhodamnia rubescens, Ripogonum album, Rubus moorei, Schizomeria ovata, Sloanea australis, Smilax australis, Syzygium paniculata, Toona ciliata, Trema aspera, Tristaniopsis laurina.
Swamp sclerophyll species of the Sydney Basin that are present include:
Acacia irrorata, Acacia longifolia, Acacia prominens, Acmena smithii, Adiantum aethiopicum, Allocasuarina littoralis, Baumea articulata, Baumea juncea, Breynia oblongifolia, Callistemon salignus, Calochlaena dubia, Carex appressa, Casuarina glauca, Centella asiatica, Dianella caerulea, Dodonaea triquetra, Elaeocarpus reticulatus, Entolasia marginata, Entolasia stricta, Eucalyptus deanei, Eucalyptus robusta, Ficus coronata, Gahnia clarkei, Gahnia sieberiana, Glochidion ferdinandi, Glycine clandestina, Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. polygalifolium, Livistona australis, Lomandra longifolia, Lophostemon suaveolens, Melaeuca biconvexa, Morinda jasminoides, Omalanthus populifolius, Oplismenus aemulus, Oplismenus imbecillis , Parsonsia straminea, Phragmites australis, Polyscias sambucifolia, Pratia purpurascens, Pteridium esculentum, Stephania japonica var. discolor, Viola hederacea.
Many more species that are present are listed here: https://sites.google.com/site/palmgroveourimbahcreeklandcare/home/project-definition/biodiversity/green-plants.
Ecosystem value This is a rare example of rainforest interspersed with swamp sclerophyll forest on the Central Coast . It has nearly all the rainforest species that survive in the Ourimbah Creek, Wyong River, and Dora Creek catchments. It has one of the highest biodiversity scores recorded for the Central Coast, as detailed here: https://sites.google.com/site/palmgroveourimbahcreeklandcare/home/project-definition/biodiversity
The forest along the creek and on the associated floodplain protects Tuggerah Lake downstream from nutrient and sediment runoff, as detailed here: https://sites.google.com/site/nutrisedimentfilter/
Management to date This 2 km of creekside land has been managed by local volunteers in Palm Grove/Ourimbah Creek Landcare since 2000. They obtained a NSW Envirofund grant for 2009 - 2012 of $98,000. This was wholly used for contract bush regeneration, in removing small- and large-leaf privet, camphor laurel, blackberry, tree tobacco and lantana invasions from 2,000 m of the creek bank. In 2018, Council contracted bush regeneration of a 50-m section of creek bank containing actively-regenerating rainforest at a cost of $5,000.
Management 2019-2021 A grant of $100,000 entitled Restoration of lowland rainforest and swamp sclerophyll forest on floodplain from the NSW Environmental Trust is to be used, together with a matching commitment of volunteer labour, to manage this land, together with the adjoining land bordering Ourimbah Creek that is owned by Central Coast Council
.
Report for 20 February 2020 Meeting
Report for 20 February 2020 Meeting
Peak year for guioa The photo shows two seedlings of guioa (Guioa semiglauca). It’s a species that’s hardly regenerated with us for several years. Some years, it doesn’t produce much seed.
Even in a good year for seeds, they can’t bear drying out, so no rain means no regeneration. However, this year may be different, because there’s been a bumper crop of seeds, coinciding with flooding rains. It looks as if we will get really good regeneration, as long as our flooded site doesn’t stay underwater.
You might think that, with so many guioa seedlings coming up, it would be easy to transplant them to where they’re needed. The trouble is, you have to catch the seedlings straight after they germinate, roots and all. It’s all too easy to break the long taproot and, if you do that, the seedling fades away. It’s as if it has put all its energy into the lost root and so dies of exhaustion. With a good taproot, seedlings grow only two small leaves but, below ground, a long root system grows down steadily. That makes them difficult to transplant but, left in place, gets them over dry periods.
Anywhere under a guioa tree that isn’t actually underwater is, for the next few days, a mixture of damp mulch and orange guioa seeds. By sweeping it up and keeping it moist, seedlings for nursery growing appear in a few days. After potting up with their long roots intact, they should be fine for later planting.
The photo below shows a red ash (Alphitonia excelsa) seedling coming up between the wheel tracks of our road. Unlike guioa, its seeds live for years in the soil. They germinate irregularly but, like wattles, there are plenty now that high temperatures are coinciding with rain. And, like guioas, they hate losing their taproots, so the earlier seedlings are rescued into pots the better.
Diary 14 Nov 2019 Photo monitoring 16 sclerophyll and rainforest enclosures. 22 Nov Cassie Baker (Central Coast Council) invited submission for transfer of RMS Private land. 28 Nov Cassie Baker visited. Council Landcare Christmas party. Wildlife Ark brought two rehabilitated brushtail possums plus new nestbox. 5 Dec Total fire ban - no working. 12 Dec Group’s Christmas lunch at Niagara Park. 8 Jan 2020 First working bee of year. 9 Jan Letter requesting that Council consider acquiring RMS Private land sent to Cassie Baker. 2,000 stakes ordered from Council. 23 Jan Total fire ban, working bee cancelled. 6 Feb Penny Pinkess delivered 20 l Roundup plus mosquito spray, compost bin and hand saw. 8 Feb torrential rain. 9 Feb Whole site inundated to 2 m or more, including Colette’s plant nursery. 10 Feb Flood height determined nearly to roof of containers, roof of shelter. Cleanup started. Contractor team repaired enclosures. 17 Feb Wildlife Ark bringing another rescued possum.
Seedlings of Guoia semiglauca
Report for 9 August 2018 Meeting and AGM
Ross Dawson died suddenly at the end of July. He worked with us for four years, and now we shall miss those stories of his about growing up in the earlier days of Ourimbah Creek. We shall miss him proudly showing us photos of his grandchildren growing up. Ross was another of those originals whose memories of Ourimbah Creek it's a pity not to have been recorded. In the bush with us, he was a keen observer. While we would be looking for rainforest seedlings, Ross would be seeing birds as well as plants. It seems only a short time ago that Ross was the first to point a rose robin out as it flitted from tree to tree. Thanks to him, the rest of us now see them too.
Diary 11 May Reported problem key not working at Rest Area. 22 June reported about key at Rest Area not working. 26 June Met Penny Pinkess (CCC) at Bunnings to collect fencing and star posts. 27 June Financial records of Environmental Trust grant 2012-2018 to Jan Schwab for auditing. 28 June Email from Anna Deegan (CCC) requesting work on Council land.5 July Anna Deegan (CCC) visited to discuss work schedule. 13 July David Bain (Environmental Trust) phoned to ask for plan of possible work around Melaleuca biconvexa.
16 July Proposal for M. biconvexa work emailed to David Bain (Env. Trust).
19 July Acacia irrorata fallen across road at Deb's Ditch cleared up. Data re Transect 2 recorded. 26 July Longtime member Ross Dawson died. 2 August Visit by State Member for The Entrance David Mehan, with Catherine Wall, together with Anne Craig, widow of former member Don Craig. 3 Aug With Anna Deegan (CCC) and Damien Moey (Bangalow Bushland Management) marked out contracted work area on Council land near Ourimbah Creek. 5 Aug Photo of defective lock at Rest Area. 7 August Funeral of longtime member Ross Dawson.
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